In cellular networks, it is known to provide various kinds of application services. Conventionally, such application services are provided by an application server, and a user may access such application services through a user equipment (UE) connected to the cellular network.
In this connection, an idea that is gaining increased attention is the possibility to deploy a cloud platform for application services closer to the users in cellular networks, in particular in a radio access network (RAN) part of the cellular network. Such cloud service platform may be implemented by multiple application service platforms distributed over different sites in the RAN. Accordingly, when the UE is connected to a given access node of the RAN, the application service platform which is closest to this access node may be utilized for providing the application services to the UE. This may help to reduce the amount of transport network bandwidth required for the traffic associated with the application services. Further, also a better user experience may be achieved, e.g., by allowing for reduced roundtrip delays or smart interactions between the cloud platform and network elements.
Mobility of the UE in the cellular network may also require migration of established user sessions of the application services between the application service platforms at different sites in the RAN. For example, in WO2014/008955 A1 it is described that upon handover (HO) of a UE from a first access node to a second access node, a context of the UE is moved from an application service platform at the first access node to an application service platform at the second access node. For this purpose, the context data of the application service platform may be conveyed in a Handover Request message, in particular in an information element referred to as “Source eNB to Target eNB Transparent Container”.